SPORTSCAR

Formula E visits Germany: On Saturday (May 25), Daniel Abt, Lucas di Grassi and company will race at the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin. With support from the local fans, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler intends to celebrate on the podium and so put itself in a good position for the final phase of the title race.

There was success for Lamborghini this weekend in the Italian GT Endurance series at Misano, with Alex Frassineti, Jeroen Mul and Vito Postiglione taking victory for Imperiale Racing (Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO).

In pleasant early summer weather, the Corvette C7 GT3-R pairing of Markus Pommer (28, GER) and Marvin Kirchhöfer (25, GER, both Callaway Competition) outclassed the rest of the field to win Sunday’s ADAC GT Masters race and notch up a second victory of the season. Second place went to Rolf Ineichen (40, CH) and Franck Perera (34, FRA, both Orange1 by GRT Grasser) in the best of the Lamborghini Huracáns. In third place were David Jahn (28, GER) and Sven Barth (38, GER, both RWT Racing) in the second of the two Corvettes. “I am very happy,” said winner Kirchhöfer. “I can certainly live with two wins from the first four races.”

Patric Niederhauser (27, CH) and Kelvin van der Linde (22, ZA) in an Audi R8 LMS won Saturday’s ADAC GT Masters race at Autodrom Most. It was a maiden victory for their team, HCB Rutronik Racing, on only its third race in the series. The runner-up spot went to the Lamborghini pairing of Christian Engelhart (32, GER) and Mirko Bortolotti (29, ITA, both Orange1 by GRT Grasser), Max Hofer (19, AUT) and Christopher Mies (29, GER, both Montaplast by Land-Motorsport) subsequently being awarded third place in a Audi R8 LMS. “Getting the first win for our new team is obviously a very special moment,” said a delighted Kelvin van der Linde. “I am very happy to be a part of it. I’m also happy for Patric – he likewise more than deserves this maiden win.”

Race one for the SRO GT4 America series at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park proved to be a nail biter on Saturday morning, resulting in KTM X-BOW racer Nicolai Elghanayan taking the win over sports car racing veteran Spencer Pumpelly. From start to finish, the two battled hard for the lead position, trading the lead back and forth with almost every lap, putting on a thrilling show for the entirety of the 50 minute sprint race.

Friday afternoon at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, sports car driver Nicolai Elghanayan captured the third pole of his World Challenge career for Saturday’s Sprint race. The No. 71 KTM X-BOW set a fast lap time of 1:23.465, holding 0.128 seconds over the No. 66 Porsche of Spencer Pumpelly.

To popular demand from drivers and teams, the Automotodrom Brno in the Czech Republic is making its comeback on the calendar of the 24H SERIES European Championship powered by Hankook. The challenging track is hosting the third round of the European season, the Hankook 12H BRNO (24-25 May 2019) featuring the 24H GT SERIES and the 24H TCE SERIES, both powered by Hankook. In the best tradition of the race series organised by Dutch agency CREVENTIC, the GT and touring car fields will each have their own separate starting group and prize-giving ceremony. The race will again be split up into two segments with the first three hours to run on Friday and the remainder taking place on Saturday.

Superb start to first day of the ADAC GT Masters at Most with four brands occupying the top four positions. Jeroen Bleekemolen (37, NL, Team Zakspeed BKK Mobil Oil Racing) set the pace in first practice in a Mercedes-AMG. He was followed home by drivers in Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini sports cars.

More Spanish drivers are on the way to the Race Ready-organized series as Miguel Fernández Yuste and José Martínez Bueno will be sharing driving duties in the KTM X-Bow Super Light. The KTM machinery will add some more variety to GTC class.

Two weeks after the victorious Italian GT Sprint opener at Vallelunga, Riccardo Agostini is set for the second round of the Endurance Series held this coming weekend (May 18/19) at the Misano Adriatico Circuit.

Strakka Racing claimed a fifth-place finish in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup at the team’s home race of Silverstone on 12 May 2019. Outstanding drives from Dev Gore, Lewis Williamson and Jack Hawksworth meant the Northamptonshire-based outfit climbed an incredible 36 places during the course of the three-hour race following a 41st-place start. On the penultimate lap, the #43 Mercedes-AMG GT3 was running in third and set for a podium finish but contact in the battle for the chequered flag cost the team two places.

Overcast skies, a dry track and a massive crowd set the tone for Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Andrea Belicchi in their first run this season in the European Le Mans Series. The 4 Hours of Monza, the second round of 2019, should have had a better outcome for Cetilar Racing as the team was stopped after only 35 laps, one-third of the race.

Karol Basz and Bartosz Paziewski made amends for their final lap disappointment in Race 1 to lead a dominant Imperiale Racing one-two in the second Lamborghini Super Trofeo race at Silverstone. The Polish duo started from pole position and led home a charging Vito Postiglione in the #44 Imperiale Racing, with Race 1 winners Stuart Middleton and Jack Bartholomew completing the podium in the #32 Bonaldi Motorsport Huracán.